This blog looks at the insurance industry's knowledge of the harmful health effects of exposure to asbestos and other related topics.

Travelers

March 20, 2012

Mr. Reuel Stratton, Supervising Chemical Engineer for the Travelers Insurance Company, made a presentation on May 12, 1932 at the Pennsylvania Safety Conference in Harribsurg, entitled “The Engineering Control of Occupational Diseases by Plant Equipment and Operation.”

Mr. Stratton noted at the outset of his speech that:

“The study to control the incidence of occupational or industrial disease by engineering is not at all new. As early as 76 A.D., Pliny recorded the fact that ‘Those employed in the works preparing vermilion cover their faces with a bladder skin, so that they may not inhale pernicious powder, yet they can see through the skin.’”

Further Mr. Stratton said:

“Undoubtedly, certain occupational diseases need not occur. The medical and engineering aspects of their control are now so well known that in the hands of capable plant officials there can be little excuse for occurrence. There are others, however, where a certain percentage of cases is to be expected, despite the utmost efforts of the plant physician and the engineer.”

Mr. Stratton spoke at length on dust diseases:

“While the term “pneumoconiosis” is applied to any respiratory disease caused through the inhalation of dust, the most common type of it in industry is “silicosis,” or silica poisoning. As the engineering control of silicosis embraces the essentials required, any suggested procedure will be understood to apply to all types of pneumoconiosis, the only difference being in the severity of the disease, the length of exposure required to produce it, and the free silica content of the material being processed or handled. In any study of plant operation producing such a disease the fundamental cause is the inhalation of dust, so that the problem is to control the production of dust, or to protect the workers against the inhalation of the dust.”

“Silica poisoning, or silicosis, has long been associated with quarrying and stone-cutting operations. Other dusts such as alumina, iron oxide, and asbestos should be regarded with suspicion.”

Two of the Engineering controls for dust mentioned in the speech are:

Housing: “Where practicable, dusty manufacturing processes should be separately housed and isolated, and every effort should be made to arrest dust at its source, to protect the employees… The location of a dusty operation in the open air does not eliminate its danger; in fact, it may increase the number affected.”

And

Ventilation: “Proper ventilation is of paramount importance in the control of any dust exposure. Each process should be studied separately and ventilated separately. It is not wise to rely upon general ventilation. Instead, high-velocity ventilation apparatus should be installed, functioning directly at the source of the dust.”

March 14, 2012

The earliest evidence of knowledge in the United States of the hazards of asbestos dust is from a speech given in October 1900 at a convention of the International Association of Factory Inspectors of America held in Indianapolis, Indiana. In a speech entitled, The Dangerous Trades, Mr. W.E. Walling of Chicago, quoted at length from Great Britain’s Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops for the years 1898 and 1899. Excerpts from Mr. Walling’s speech:

“Dust- today we are apt to look at the breathing in of dust as our fathers did at the breathing in of germs. It seems an insignificant and ridiculous matter, but this is the reverse of the truth. One of the women inspectors of England says of the evil effects of dust: ‘In the majority of cases the evil is very insidious and the general symptoms produced by dust on the various respiratory organs are to the lay mind so similar to those produced by other causes that it is not always easy to trace the connection.’”

Further quoting from a British Annual Report on Factories and Workshops, Mr. Walling said:

“Such instances can seldom be fully traced except with infinite labor and patience. The worker falls into ill-health, and sinks away out of sight in no sudden or sensational manner so that attention is seldom attracted to the ultimate source of the trouble.

“The evil effects of asbestos dust have also attracted my attention, a microscopic examination of this mineral dust which was made by H.M. Medical Inspector clearly revealed the sharp, glass-like, jagged nature of the particles, and where they are allowed to rise and to remain suspended in the air of a room, in any quantity, the effects have been found to be injurious, as might have been expected.”

Just pages away from a 1901 publication of the speech is a full page advertisement by The Fidelity & Casualty Company of New York, a half page advertisement for the Travelers Insurance Company and a half page advertisement for the New Amsterdam Casualty Company.

The New Amsterdam Casualty Company merged in the mid-1960s with the Security Insurance Company. In 2007, the Security Insurance Company merged with Arrowood Indemnity Company.

March 05, 2012

Excerpts from the 7th edition of the Travelers Indemnity book, Boiler Economy:

From the Preface:

The Travelers Indemnity Company employs a large force of expert inspectors, whose knowledge and experience are always at the command of our assured; and the services that these men render are worth far more than the cost of the insurance. Problems that require special study, and call for more time and consideration than any individual visiting inspector can devote to them, are laid before the staff of the Engineering and Inspection Division of the Company, at its Home office in Hartford, Connecticut...

The facilities of the Travelers Engineering and Inspection Division are broad and complete in every respect. Engineers of national reputation are at its head, and under their direction expert services of every needful kind are rendered by well organized departments, in charge of competent men who are admitted authorities in their own special lines.

For patrons who contemplate putting in new boilers, or changing their present boiler plants in other ways, The Travelers is prepared to furnish practical specifications and plans, showing the most improved designs, and the best methods for executing the work in all its details…

Section 78 of the book:

COVERINGS FOR PIPES AND BOILERS: The coverings that are used to check radiation from pipes and boilers should have good heat-insulating properties. Non-conducting coverings should be of such a nature that leaks from pipes or from the roof of the boiler house will not damage them seriously, and they should not be made of materials that are likely to char from heat. In selecting them, attention should be given, not only to the cost of the material, but also to its heat-insulating power, as determined by experiment.

Coverings upon pipes that convey steam or hot water under pressure should be applied in such a way that they can be removed readily for repairs or inspections,-particularly where the pipes enter fittings of any kind. In the event of a leak at these places, it will then be possible to examine the pipe and make the needed repairs at materially less expense than would be involved if the covering were put on without regard to this contingency.

Section 85:

Travelers inspectors are at the service of our assured at all times, to give counsel upon any points that relate to the safety or economy of the boilers…

The concluding section of the book, Section 106:

INSPECTION AND INSURANCE: Every boiler owner should insure his boilers with the best company he can find; and no other company is as well prepared as The Travelers, to render technical services of a useful, practical character. Its engineers and inspectors are men of wide mechanical experience, with a sound and thorough knowledge of boiler management; and you are cordially invited to submit to them any question or problem that may arise in your plant, bearing upon the safety or economy of your steam boilers. Inquiries should be addressed to The Travelers Indemnity Company, Hartford, Connecticut.

February 27, 2012

As mentioned in the blog entry, The Life Insurance Examiner 1888, a book written by Dr. Charles Stillman, an examining surgeon for the Travelers Insurance Company, includes in the appendix, statistical charts taken from a treatise entitled, System and Tables of Life Insurance, A Treatise Developed from the Experience and Records of Thirty American Life Offices, Under the Direction of a Committee of Actuaries. The treatise was authored by Levi Meech, the actuary in charge of the endeavor.

The thirty insurance companies include, Aetna Life Insurance, Continental Insurance Company of New York, and the Travelers.

According to the preface of the Treatise, the origin of the collection of the statistics dates from the re-organization of the Chamber of Life Insurance in 1873. A circular dated March 16, 1875 was sent to all life insurance companies in the United States and stated in part that, “The Chamber of Life Insurance has, through its Executive Committee, appointed the undersigned a Committee upon Mortality Experience, with instructions to procure from every American Company willing to furnish it, their experience in full up to a recent period.”

The statistical topics include, “the general mortality among insured lives” and “a classification of the causes of death, in general, by locality, and such other special relations as may be deemed advisable hereafter.”

The preface concludes with this statement, “The work has been nearly six years in progress, under a single direction of large experience; and with favorable conditions, has thus resulted in an authentic standard for reference.”

The Treatise is divided in two parts, Part First, Elementary Observations and Tables includes a division entitled Medical Statistics. The Part Second, Life Annuities and Insurances includes a section entitled, “Probable Life in Europe.”

This insurance industry collaboration was published in 1881 and revised in 1886.

January 04, 2012

In the late 1880's an examining surgeon of the Travelers Insurance Company, Dr. Charles Stillman, wrote a book with the aim of the author “to present a concise, practical manual, which will enable even the beginner in life insurance examinations to conduct an examination satisfactorily to the company by whom he is employed – to the applicant and to himself – and it is intended to be a systematic and complete treatise upon the subject of life insurance examinations.”

The second part of the book, Examination of the Applicant, includes a section entitled “Environment” with a sub-heading of “Occupation” and states at the outset, “We append at the close of this paragraph a table showing a classification of the relative influence of the various occupations on the duration of life in general, but it must be the task of the Examiner to determine, in each individual case, how far the applicant’s particular employment is likely to prove prejudicial to longevity, in view of what is elicited by the insurance examination.” In addition Dr. Stillman notes, “In some occupations danger of accidents must be considered; in others, the general deleterious circumstances.”

As mentioned, Dr. Stillman’s treatise includes a table of “Classification of Risks According to Occupation.” The table places dozens of occupations into four classes of risks. As to certain trades the doctor notes: “Painters, using lead, turpentine and oils, require careful scrutiny before they can safely be admitted. For their case, outside work in the fresh air is preferable to indoor work, and the constitution and physical status must be sound. Workers in phosphorous and quicksilver present the same objections. Stone-cutters, millers, and those engaged in similar occupations, which necessitate constant breathing of air laden with irritating particles, are questionable risks, unless the applicant is exceptionally strong and careful, and his place of business is provided with improved methods of ventilation.”

The Appendix includes life insurance statistics from a treatise on the records of 30 American life insurance companies, which will be discussed in more detail in the next blog entry.